What's wrong with the Pistons ?

[kellmellus50]

Smith taking 3pt shots should be not allowed
Jennings 3d player off bench- Dewindle should be playing before him
Moose should be playing instead of drinking and watching games
Do not play Smih at small forward
Team quits in 3rd or 4th quarter
same problems as last year

[The Penguin]

We are young and dumb
Our two highest paid players are bad influences
We don't have wing talent relative to who we are playing against every night


This team just isn't that good. We need to dump Smith and Jennings, add a real blue chip wing in the draft and bring in smart vets willing to play a role.

[Redeemed]

Smith
- Taking long 2s is just as bad as taking 3s when your range is foul line (barely) and below.
- If your talent is passing the ball, pass it and stop taking 20+ shots.
- Get back on D!
- Don't bark orders at your teammates if you are stuck on stupid.
- Post up. Slash. Pass. Board. Block. Steal. That's your lane.

Jennings
- Man up and shut up. Being emotional and saying DJ should start means you've given up again. That seems to be your MO. When it gets tough, pout and quit.
- Figure out how to play effective in a slow down half court set.
- Get to the basket. What happened to all that alleged muscle you put on?
- Guard your man!!!

Drummond
- Get film of Joakim Noah & Blake Griffen (watch, rinse, repeat).
- You cannot lead vocally if you are clueless when it comes to leading by example.
- What did you learn this summer? I can't tell.
- Why are you being outplayed by inferior talent and getting outrebounded, and committing dumb fouls? Are you stupid?

KCP
- Breakthrough season? I can't tell.

Pistons
- There are two halves to the game.
- Quitting is a punk move.
- Compete. You paid a ton of money to compete.
- I hope you have nothing but 3 plus hour practices on Defense.

[Kilo]

Drummond is VASTLY overrated.

[tru2dagame]

1.) Moose is more important than what most would like to give him credit for.

2.) Drummond is still raw and when he faces an interior player that is polished, it shows.

3.) Meeks is out.

4.) Our lack of athleticism is painfully obvious. (insert Gerald Green here)

5.) Chemistry hasn't full developed.

[vic]

1.) Moose is more important than what most would like to give him credit for.

.

Ding Ding Ding and we have a winner.

I love these first two losses and the stupidity coming out of Josh Smith and BJs mouth because to me it means SVG is seeing who his future team really is. Can't wait to see Monroe starting and Smith coming off the bench. I still think Jennings is a starter but Dinwiddie is going to be there soon.

[DonVitoReturns]

After two games, the answer is simple:

Not enough talent without Monroe and Meeks.

Even with them -- not enough talent.

As the season progresses and the team doesn't meet the pre-season expectations of many in this forum (based on the thread on regular season record predictions), the answer will remain:

Not enough talent.

Some of what they have needs further development (Drummond, Pope, etc.), while others are simply duds.

[imagump1313]

Nothing - Its 2 games.....
2 NBA road games with an inexperienced team.

SVG can't fix years of bad habits in 2 days. Give it some time and they will be fine. Sure they don't have a perfect roster, But Stan will get the most out of it.

[bballnmike]

1.) Moose is more important than what most would like to give him credit for.

2.) Drummond is still raw and when he faces an interior player that is polished, it shows.

3.) Meeks is out.

4.) Our lack of athleticism is painfully obvious. (insert Gerald Green here)

5.) Chemistry hasn't full developed.

This. And,
6.) We're two games into the season with a new head coach.

[ImHeisenberg]

Nobody boxes out, Drummond and Smith keep relying on athleticism to get rebounds. Despite SVG repeatedly bringing up that they're not boxing out.

Terrible ball movement. I understand that this team lacks playmakers or creators, but the ball shouldn't just be 'one pass and shoot'.

SVG has years to build this team how he wants. If you expected a complete turn around in the span of one offseason, you're ridiculous.

Most expected Detroit to be a lottery team again this year. Early returns are holding true to that notion.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[sfballa13]

Drummond is VASTLY overrated.

I dont know if you are being sarcastic or not but from the Olympics till now he has played terrible

He looks like Deandre Jordan when he was just starting out, very raw, using athleticism not smarts and skills to score and rebound

Also he also thinks he is hot **** since winning his gold medal. I sat courtside and his mannerisms and behavior are 100% different than last year. Even the way he responds to fans is different. He has let that Olympics get to his head a bit

That being said if he puts up 13/13 (his numbers last year) and plays somewhat decent defense he is worth his money as there arent that many productive centers in the NBA

SVG needs to get rid of Smith ASAP and then we can see if Dre is sulking bc of Josh's stupid shot selection and mistakes or bc he is a little punk

[Snakebites]

Whats wrong with the Pistons? They aren't that good and a coaching change isn't going to magically improve them overnight.

If we're lucky he'll have us playing .500 ball by the end of the year, and that's if we're VERY lucky. No reason to believe that was going to start happening immediately. We've had some bad coaches, but we've also got the sort of roster that makes coaches look bad.

To be honest I'm getting sick of conversations like this. People act like there's something ailing this team because they aren't meeting expectations that were never realistic to begin with.

Come on, people. We've been to this dance before. Every season since the acquisition of Allen Iverson we've been here. Its no fun.

[whitehops]

Nothing - Its 2 games.....
2 NBA road games with an inexperienced team.

SVG can't fix years of bad habits in 2 days. Give it some time and they will be fine. Sure they don't have a perfect roster, But Stan will get the most out of it.

a reasonable post, what a fresh of breath air around here the last few days.



let me start by saying that the defense has not been the problem - we've played two good games defensively.

the problem is offensively, and i'll post some factors here:

- we are dead last in the league (in this very small sample size) in free throw attempts (relative to field goal attempts). now you know why SVG likes augustin's penetration ability... smith is still creating a little farther from the rim than I thought he would, I expected him to be operating around the elbows but he is almost at the three point line.
- we don't have many guys that can handle the ball and actually do something with it. KCP has gotten much better from last year but still can't create offense by himself on any consistent basis. while Drummond has improved in the post you still can't throw it in to him possession after possession. the offense is being created almost exclusively by augustin and smith and the results have been rough. what will help this is getting Monroe back next game and meeks back in a month or so. from what I heard from lakers fans when he signed meeks was that he was able to create off the dribble much better last year so that should give us another solid ball handler.
- drummond's foul trouble. this kind of goes back to not having moose the past two games but Drummond getting into foul trouble (on mostly silly fouls) means that we've played joel Anthony 19 minutes a game - more than Jennings. I've watched joel for years and he might be the worst offensive player in the league, I was actually shocked when he made a hook shot yesterday. I think we'll see in the next few games how much of a difference it makes to always have two of Drummond/smith/Monroe on the court at all times.



I think more than anything we just need to be patient with this team. we'll get a better idea of the team's dynamic when Monroe comes back and then hopefully we'll have a little more chemistry when meeks comes back.

i'm still very hopeful about this year.

[Brapman]

The premise of this thread is what's wrong, actually.

Look, we know this is a developing team; we're a work in progress and we knew that coming into the season. Like Mission Control said in Apollo 13, "Let's look at this from the standpoint of status." In other words, look at what we've got, and project that towards the middle and end of this season, and, especially into next season and our long term future.

1. Drummond. This just turned 21 year old guy is developing so fast before our eyes that it's unbelievable. Remember him after he was drafted and in the summer league? Now, watch his footwork in the post - watch him calling for and receiving the ball, and then displaying for-real quality low post moves. Of course there's a lot more to develop at both ends of the court, but he's playing power BB now against power players. In years 1 and 2, he was pushed off his spot and surrendered territory in the paint way too easily. He's learning to play more physically, and, frankly, with more physicality, comes more foul potentials, and he's now learning on the fly to adapt to that. Did you guys watch the dunk over that big guy in game 1? Did you see his Euro step through the lane ending in a sweet layup with his left hand? Have you seen his unreal mobility preventing lobs, even though he's a 280 pounder?

2. KCP. His talent is obvious, and his knee injury took him out of his rhythm. I'll be shocked if he doesn't turn into one of the league's better SG within the next couple seasons. Borderline all-star status is possible for him. All defensive team status is also possible for him.

3. Dinwiddie. We'll see, but if he's as good as the Pistons believe, then he and KCP could form one of the league's best backcourts.

4. Drummond, KCP, Dinwiddie - age 21.

5. DJ Augustine. This guy is a high quality backup SG, and a passable starter. He's an asset, for sure.

6. Singler. Quality rotation player, but not a starter. Rotation players are assets.

7. JJ. Looking like he has returned to being a quality deeper bench rotation player. Again, an asset going forward. He helps us.

8. Monroe, and/or his cap space. Greg's a major asset for us one way or another. Either long term on our team, or in a sign and trade, or just using his cap space. We'll have to see about his long term fit with Drummond. He might be a guy who has to play too close to the basket and that could impede his ability to pair with Andre.

9. Butler. Asset for sure this season. Stabilizing player and professional in the locker room - and he really can shoot.

10. Josh Smith. Asset for sure this season and next - after that he's on an expiring contract. SVG has to reign him in and get him to play high IQ BB going forward. Can he be reigned in? Very unclear at this point. But don't doubt his raw talent and desire.

11. Meeks. I think he's going to be a hell of an asset on our team, and for years to come.

12. Cartier Martin. Might not be a bad bench guy.

13. NON-ASSET, MOST LIKELY: Jennings. I think he's through with us - sooner or later he'll be deep benched. I don't believe SVG or anyone on this planet aside from Mo Cheeks (jk about Cheeks) can get through to him. What a waste of an obvious talent.

14. NON-ASSETS, ALMOST CERTAINLY: Gigi and Mitchell. It's hard to imagine they'll break through to become productive Pistons - ever. Too bad about Gigi. I had high hopes for him.

14. #1 pick next year. We've got our pick and if it's lottery, we might get lucky and add another good pro.

15. Cap space. We have some this year and next summer we have a lot more available.

16. SVG. Major asset. Great coaches are major assets.

Especially if #'s 1 through 3 come through as we hope, this team's in GREAT shape for the future. But I see a lot of assets on this team. It'll take time for our young core to become high quality and experienced pros, but there's still real potential that the veteran assets on this team will meld into a decent team this season.

[fekz]

moose out, meeks out, cartier martin out, kcp not shooting well after injury.

[Southern Piston]

I actually think we showed some positive signs and looked pretty good. If we would have had Monroe, I think we would have won at least one of them if not both. I think Smith will tone it down a bit when Monroe gets back. Monroe is our best offensive weapon really. These are .500 West road games. It would be a hard win either way. I still think we could be 3-3 after six games.

[ADflight1]

They lack talent. Simple as that.

[russkopp]

I think monroe is more important than we think and I'm worried about losing him. It's probably the reason we aren't moving smith.

[cammac]

Looking at the comments about the Piston I believe you will get better with Stan being a major part. But one thing you can't teach is dumb and right now Smith and Jennings are just plain dumb/ Augustine had a good year with Chicago but he needs a strong defensive structure around him.

Hopefully this will be a breakout year for Drummond and I believe he can become a cornerstone player and I want to look at him 10 games into season before making any judgments. but his shooting % is significantly lower not sure if he is trying to develop range and his offensive rebounding is off. Hopefully both will go up and just a new season blip.
Anyways good luck on the season.

[engelbert321]

Yeah I'm not too worried right now considering it's only 2 games and it's against Western teams. Hopefully we'll bounce back against BKN with Moose back now.